Ram-actuating mechanism for mechanical stokers



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L I lNVEN'I'OR wow @Fommam,

Sept. 15, 1925. t

.R. A. FORESMAN RAM ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR MECHANICAL STOKERS Filed June 9. 1920 9 To. N m. @h m. m 6 M N\ l|.|.| Wm" Q v a RR\ 1 m m a 52.2 5 I S I m A Q- AI 1 r a WITNESSES: 325.43

ATTORNEY Sepfi. 15v 1925. 1,553,997

- R. A. FORESMAN RAM ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR MECHANICAL STOKERS Filed June 9, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 '0 INVENTOR WHNESSES a? flaw 1 BY AT'ToREY To all whoin it may concern:

PatentedSept; 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT oericn.

nonnnr A.-FGRESMA1\T, or ESSINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, nssIeNon. To. wns'rme norrsn ELECTRIC NnMANUrncrUmNG COMPANY, A conPonA'rIoN or rnNN- SYLVANIA.

RAM-ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR MECHANICAL STOKEBS.

Application filed June 9,

Be it known that 1, ROBERT A. FoRnsMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Essington, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ram-Ad tuating Mechanism for Mechanical Stokers. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to stokers, and particularly to mechanism for driving and controlling the movement of reciprocating rams employed in apparatus of the character des ignated and it has for an Ob ect. to provide a simple and durable driving connectlon be tween the fuel feeding rams and the auxiliary or secondary rams which operate 1n the fuel retorts of the grate section.

Another object of my invention is to provide a driving connection for the purpose specified which may be adjusted so that the stroke of the auxiliary rams may be varied with relation to the stroke of the main fuel feeding ram while the stoker mechanism is p in operation.

These and other objects are attained by means of a mechanism embodying the features herein described and illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming a part hereof, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a View, partially in longitudinal vertical section and partially diagrammatic of the fuel hopper and passage-of a stoker, showing the improved mechanism for connecting the auxiliary ram operating bar with the main feed ram.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the ram operating mechanism showing certain portions of the fuel hopper cut away.

Fig. 3 is a detailed view on an enlarged scale of the pawl and ratchet and of the selector mechanism.

Fig. i is a view in vertical section taken through the lug 33 of the selector 26.

Fig. 5 is a view in section showing the auxiliary rams of a multiple retort furnace in difierent phases of reciprocation.

Referring to the drawings, the stoker upon which the improved apparatus is shown as applied includes the usual fuel hopper 5 and ram 6 which is reciprocated beneath the fuel discharge opening 7 for the purpose of forcing fuel into a longitudinally extending retort 8. It will be understood that the stoker may be provided with any desired tion of 1920;. Serial No. 387,614.

tuyeres 9. disposed longitudinally between the retorts-and forming a combustion'surface or irate; The fuel upon the lower port e grateis agitated by means of auxiliary rams 10 which slide forward and rearward upon the bottom wall 11 of each of the retorts and which are reciprocated by means of operating bars 12. Each operating bar is connected to the associated plunger 6 by mechanism to be hereinafter described and which embodies the novel construction which I hereinafter claim. The plunger 6 is reciprocated by suitable power means, iiidicated at 13, which is connected thereto by means of a connecting rod 14, pivoted at one end to the plunger 6 by means of a pin 15 and at the other end to a crank shaft 16 driven by the power means. e

The stoker construction above described, with the exception of the apparatus connecting the auxiliary ram with the feed ram is of the underfeed type which is well known in the art and my improvement resides in the apparatus connecting the main feed rams with the auxiliary rams whereby the stroke of the auxiliary rams may be readily varied with respect to that of the main ra ns or plungers, by a simple adjustment of certain parts of the apparatus. The bonnecting appar'atus referred to includes a rocking lever 17 which is pivoted at its lower end to a bracket 18 secured to the under side of the hopper 5, and at its upper end' to a pin 15 carried by the plungerb.

The free end of the operating supported in a bracket 19- andiis provided with a longitudinally extending slot 20 having its lower wall provided with a rack consisting of a series of downwardly directed notches 21 between which rack or ratchet teeth 22 are formed. The bar 12 isconnected to the rocking lever 17 by means of a pair of links 23 which are disposed on either side of the bar and lever and are connected at one end by means of a pin or pawl member which extends through the slot 20. The other ends of the links 23 are pivoted at 25 to the rocking lever 17.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the ram 6 is reciprocated, escillatory rod 12 is I viousl which, in turn, causes reciprocating motion of the links 23 which will hereinafter be considered as a pawl meinber adapted to.

ratchet over the inclined teeth 22 when moved forwardly and to engage the teeth 22 and thereby move the rod 12 .rearwardly when the pawl member is moved rearwardly by the rearward movement of the ram.

The slot 20 is of. such l'en h that no motion is imparted to the r0 12 by the movement of the pawl member through its entire cycle when the said member is held out of engagement with the front faces of the teeth 22 of the rack, and when the bar is in its extreme forward osition, asshown in full lines in Fi 1. owever, when the pawl 24 is in the forward notch 21, the bar will be moved substantially the-entire travel of the pawl member, the bar being moved rearwardly by reason of the engagement of the pawl with the front face of the forward tooth 22 and being moved forward by reason of the engagement of the awl with the forward end of the slot 20. y en the pawl 24 is shifted to the central notch 21, the degree of movement of the bar 12 will be reduced.

because the distance which the pawl is capable of pushing the bar rearward is reduced by the distance between the forward notch and the central notch. Upon the return stroke of the pawl it will ratchet out of the central 'notch and will not move the bar until the pawl engages the forward end of the slot 20. When the pawl is shifted into the rear-most notch 21, the motion of the bar is still further reduced and, as prestated, when the pawl 24 is held entire y out of engagement with the teeth 22, no motion whatever will be imparted to the bar 12.

In order to control the movement of the pawl 24, a selector 26 is slidably mounted upon the bar 12 so that it is free to be moved longitudinally with respect to the bar. As shown, the lower edge of the bar 12 is provided with lateral flanges 27 over which the selector is fitted in such manner that lateral displacement of the selector is prevented. The rear end of the selector is provided with a face 28 which is inclined with respect to the axis of the bar at the same angle as the rear faces of the teeth 22. The selector is adapted to be moved along the bar 12 so as to cover the notches 21 and thereby prevent the pawl from entering any notches thus covered. When the selector is moved rear turn the bar to its original position. If the selector is now advanced until it covers both the forward and central notches, the pawl, upon its rearward stroke, slides over the selector' and falls into the rearmost notch 21. No motion will be imparted to the bar, however, until the awl engages the rearmost tooth 22 when t e bar will be substantially one-third of its maximum travel. The selector is of suflicient length to cover all of the notches. and thus prevent the pawl from engaging any of the teeth 22. When the selector is in this position the pawl will simply move backward and forward in the slot. 20 without imparting any motion to the bar 12. Thus the lost motion between-the bar and the pawl may be varied by the adjustment of the selector with respect to the bar.

The selector is adjusted by means of a lever29 which is pivoted to a rocker shaft 30 mounted for oscillation in the upper portion of the bracket 18. A pair of levers 31 straddle the selector and are secured to the rocker shaft 30 so that they are oscillated by the movement of the lever 29. The lower ends of the lever 31 are pivotally connected to a rod 32 which is slidably connected to 9. depending lug 33 carried upon the selector. The rod 32 is provided at its rearward end by a limit stop 34, and the selector isyieldoperate a plurality of selectors disposed beno 1th a like number of retorts.

It is the usual practice to drive the plungers of a battery of retorts from a common crank shaft wherein the crank bearings are spaced in determined relative angular relation. The plungers actuated by the crank shaft will, therefore, operate at all times in different positions of their cycle. a result of this arrangement, certain auxiliaryoperating bars 12 willbe in different positions with respect to each other at all times, some moving forward while others are moving rearward. In dot and dash lines I have illustrated in Fig. 1, the relative position of the pin 15, rocking lever 17, link 23 and the position of the pawl 24 in the notch 21 of the bar 12, when in extreme rearward position. It will be seen that if the selectors were unyieldingly connected to the levers 31, they could not be moved rearwardly because they could not pass the pawls 24, some of which would be moving rearwardly while others were moving forwardly. Because of the yielding conconnection between the said member an nection between the selectors and their respective operating levers 31, the mainlever' 29 may be advanced to any desired position" starts its return stroke, and, as soon as the pawl ratchets out of the notch in which it,

wasoperating, the selector will move into the desired determined relative position with respect to the operating bar 12.

A sector 36 is provided having suitably disposed notches ,37v into which the lever- 29 may be movedfingorder to retain the lever in any desired position. It will be seen that the length ofthe stroke of the auxiliary rams may-. be readily, adjusted, while the stoker is in operation. v While I have described and illustrated but one embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that various changes, modifications, additions and omissions may be made in the apparatus described and illustrated without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, as set forth by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Stoker mechanism comprising a .ramoperating member, means for reciprocating the ram-operating member, a rackand pawl connection between the said member and the said means, and an adjustable selector associated with said connection and means adjustable at any phase of reciprocation for setting said selector, whereby the tooth of the rack with which the pawlshall en- I gage to transmit motion to the said member may be predetermined.

2. Stoker mechanism comprising a ramoperating member, means for reciprocating the ram-o crating member, said member being provided with a rack, a pawl carried by the said means adapted to cooperate with the teeth ofthe rack for transmitting motion of the said means to the said member in one direction of movement of the said means, and means movable to prevent operative engagement of said pawl with one or more of the teeth of said rack.

3. Stoker mechanism comprising a ramoperating member, means for reciprocating the ram-operating member, a rack and awl the said means, and means for preselecting in one'dire'ction of movement of said pawl the tooth of the rack with which the pawl shall en age.

4. Sto er mechanism comprising a ram-- operating member, means for reciprobating the ram-operat ng member, a rack carried by the said member, a pawl carried by the said means adapted normally to engage 'a tooth of the rack when moved in one direction and to ratchet over the-teeth oi, the rack when moved in'the opposite direction, and adjustable selector means adapted to be moved into varidus. relative ositions with respect to the pawl for permitting engagement of the pawl with a preselected tooth of the rack.

5. Stoker 'mechanism comprising a ramoperating member, means for reciprocatin the ram-operating member, a rack carrie by the said member, a pawl carried by the said means adapted normally to engage a tooth of the rack when moved in one direction and to ratchet over the teeth of the rack when moved in the opposite 'di'rection,-'ad- 'justable selector means adapted to be moved into various relative positions with respect to the pawl for permitting engagement of the pawl with a preselected tooth of the rack and means for yieldably holding the said selector in operative position.

6. The combination with a plurality of reciprocable stoker ram operating members adapted to be moved relatively into difl'erent operative positions, means for reciprocating each of the said members,and a ratchet and pawl connection between each of the said members and its reciprocating means whereby reciprocating movement of the said means is imparted to the said member, of a separate selector for each said member adapted to be moved into various relative positions with respect to the pawl whereby enga ement of the pawl with certain teeth of t e ratchet is prevented and means yieldingly connected with the several selectors for advancing them into operative position.

7. Stoker mechanism comprisinga ramoperating member provided with. a toothed rack having a guideway into which the ally connected to the said means and a apted to move in said guideway and operatively to engage the teeth of the rack when moved.

111 one directionv forimparting movement to the said member and to ratchet over the teeth of the said rack when moved in the opposite direction and operatively to engage an end of the guideway for imparting movement to the member in said opposite direction, a selector for preventing the pawl from engaging certain of the teeth of the rack whereby the movement imparted to the said member by the pawl may be varied, and means for moving the selector into various operative positions with respect to the pawl.

8. In a stoker, in combination, a plurality of retorts each having a ram and ram-operating mechanism for imparting a to-and-fro movement of changeable length to each associated ram, continuously operating means for actuating adjacent ram-operating members in different phases in their to-and-fro cycle, a connecting mechanism between each said member and its actuating means comprising adj ufitable means for rendering the actuating means inefi'ective to reciprocate the said member or to give to the said member reciprocations of any stroke length of several different stroke lengths, and means for operating the said adjustable means of all of said connecting mechanisms by a single operation 10 irrespective of the position of any ram at the time of such operation.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th day of May,

a A. FORESMAN. 

